Out Of The Blue
by SamJackBC
Summary: It's completely Holly's fault that Gail has developed this habit of blurting out her feelings. AKA the almost-epilogue to Protect & Serve.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:**

 **So, this one has been in the pipeline for a while. But I got distracted. Oops. Thanks for all the messages of encouragement and gentle nudges I've received along the way; they definitely helped motivate me!**

 **This is the sort of sequel/almost epilogue/kinda continuation of my last story, "Protect and Serve". It was supposed to be a one shot, but it turned into a four shot (if there is such a thing) and it's set three years after the end of P & S. Although I guess you don't absolutely have to had read that to make sense of this. It would probably help you know who is who though! Plus I like to think it's a decent story, so maybe give it a go, yeah? Unlike P & S, this one doesn't have bad guys, action scenes or even a plot. Herein lies over 16,000 words of pure fluff, romance and silliness. You have been warned people.**

 **Thanks to Kravn for beta reading for me once again. You're awesome.**

 **This one also comes with a dedication. Multiple dedications in fact. This story is for Mel, Lara & John. Three different reasons, but you all know what you did and why I need to thank you. In lieu of a proper Christmas present for you, please consider this my token of gratitude and love. You can't eat it, but enjoy all the same.**

 **Cheers,**

 **Sam**

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"And so, ladies and gents, without further ado I give you the latest addition to the ranks of Fifteen's plain clothes finest; Detective Gail Peck. Raise your glasses please; to DP3!" Oliver Shaw finished off his speech with a flourish and the gathering returned the toast.

"DP3!" they yelled. The cops clinked their glasses together before knocking back the shot and slamming the empties on the table amongst much cheering and hollering.

As Oliver climbed off his chair and joined the group once more, he beamed round the table. Most of Fifteen had turned out to celebrate Gail's promotion. All the rookies from her year were there, although Andy, Chris, Traci and Dov were no longer rookies of course. Indeed, a couple of them were now looking after rookies of their own. The old guard had also showed up, despite the fact many of them had moved on; Sam, Frank and Noelle to name but a few. There were plenty of new faces too, people who had joined the crew over the past couple of years and everyone had brought partners and friends along, making it into quite the party.

Of course, the only person who didn't seem to be enjoying that party was the woman of the moment. Gail scowled across the table at him and he assumed it was just because she didn't appreciate the fuss. Well, that was tough luck. She was one of his rookies and therefore he couldn't be prouder of her success if it was one of his own children. He felt the same way about all of them, yet he couldn't deny having a special soft spot for Peck. She had come such a long way from the scheming, aloof and guarded kid who had first come out of the academy. He had been thrilled when she finally applied for the detective rotation this year, not least because he thought she would be brilliant at it, but because she had done it on her own terms. This was something Gail wanted; not her mother. She was finally ready, helped in no small part by the woman who sat next to her. He had known from the moment he saw the two of them together that Holly would be it for Gail. Having spoken to them both separately that day, he knew they were head over heels long before they even told each other. Nearly three years on, their relationship was stronger than ever before and he could see the effect the pathologist had on his Petulant Peck. She had become more relaxed, softer even. She was happy and content and it was written all over her face. Usually. Right now she was shooting daggers at him as she leaned over to yell at him.

"No way! I am not being number three, hell no!" she announced, loudly enough for half the table to turn and stare. Some of the current crop of rookies shrunk back in their seats at the tone of Gail's voice, but most of the old crowd roared with laughter. Oliver was pretty sure he also saw some cash exchange hands and he realised there must have been a few side bets in how long it would take before Gail challenged her new title.

"Come on, Gail," Oliver cajoled her. "The squad need some way of telling the difference. You know how confusing it gets already when we tell someone to go fetch Detective Peck,"

"Urgh, remember the locker room incident?" Andy interjected, a look of disgust on her face.

Gail rolled her eyes. She did know. Ever since Traci took Steve's name when they got married six months ago, having two Detective Pecks around the place had caused no end of trouble. The example Andy referred to was one of the worst; Gail had taken a knock on the head yet again during a call out. She had felt fine until she returned to the station after her shift but when she jumped in the shower the heat had made her go woozy all of a sudden and she fainted right there on the floor of the locker room. Andy had rushed to her aid and yelled at a rookie to go and get Detective Peck, thinking that Gail wasn't going to appreciate people seeing her like this, but at least she would tolerate help from her sister in law. Of course, the rookie had panicked and a minute or two later Steve Peck had marched into the women's locker room to find his sister flat out on the floor, naked as the day she was born. Neither sibling was quite over the embarrassment of that day yet.

That had been the worst of a number of mix ups; call outs assigned to the wrong Peck, paperwork being filed incorrectly and even the terrible day where Steve ended up missing a raid because Traci's bullet proof vest had been tossed in the van by mistake. The division had taken to referring to Steve and Traci as Mr Detective Peck or Mrs Detective Peck, and Gail didn't see what was wrong with that.

"What's wrong with the Mr and Mrs tag?" she demanded.

Holly placed a hand on her girlfriend's thigh and took advantage of her spot next to Gail to whisper in her ear. "Do you really want to be Miss? Little Miss Detective?" she asked, eyebrows raised. She didn't think Gail would appreciate that at all.

The blonde contemplated that for a moment and realised she didn't like the idea. There was something a little condescending about being called Miss, especially when you're busy being a bad ass cop.

"Well, if we're dropping the Mr and Mrs title, you'll all just have to use our full names," she informed her listeners.

There were several shakes of the head at that suggestion and Chris was the first to shoot it down. "Nah. Too much of a mouthful, don't you think?" he asked.

"What about first initials then?" Gail fired back, willing to come up with anything other than being known as DP3 for the rest of her career.

"G and T sound too similar," Andy objected.

"And it's a drink," Holly interjected, with a laugh.

Gail rolled her eyes at her girlfriend before eyeballing Oliver again. "Well if we're going with numbers then I'll be number one. DP1," she told him.

"Nope. Steve was here first," he argued back.

"So what?" she scoffed. "The numbers are a new thing. You can put us in any order!"

"It doesn't matter, darlin'," replied the staff sergeant. "He was the first Detective Peck, so he's DP1,"

Steve punched the air and high fived Dov before turning to his wife, but Traci simply raised an eyebrow at his childishness and he slunk back into the corner seat, chugging his beer.

"Technically, he's about the twentieth," Gail muttered darkly, thinking back through her long family history of policing.

Oliver frowned, having to concede that point. But his expression soon cleared as he thought of his counter argument. "Ah, but he was the only one in our division! Until he married the lovely Nash, DP2, and now you've finally got your promotion. Hence DP3!" he explained.

The blonde wasn't taking the decision lying down however. "But I've been a Peck longer than Traci! I should at least be two!"

"Ah, but you were an Officer Peck. Not a detective. You've only been Detective Peck for a day, Traci has been Detective Peck for six months now," Oliver told her.

Gail's mouth gaped open as she tried to think of another reason she needed to be bumped up the Peck league table. She turned to Holly, who was watching the exchange with amusement, but the pathologist just shrugged at her. The blonde huffed and tried her luck with Traci instead. "Trace! Surely you can't be happy with this?" she demanded, throwing an arm out to gesture at Oliver and nearly knocking her drink flying.

Traci also shrugged. "It's better than Girl Peck," she said, screwing her face up in disgust as she remembered one of the ways the squad had tried to distinguish between her and Steve early on. She had to stamp down on that one pretty quickly.

"This is ridiculous," Gail announced, flipping a beer coaster at her sister in law.

"Sorry, DP3, it's all decided," Oliver drawled, ducking just in time to avoid the next square of flying cardboard.

The blonde sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. Holly smiled and threw her arm round her girlfriend's shoulders. "It could be worse," she comforted her, brushing her fingers down Gail's upper arm.

"I sound like a Star Wars character," Gail complained, making her girlfriend snort with laughter. The cop ignored her however and continued talking; "When we get married, Lunchbox, I'm taking your name."

Holly choked on her own amusement, her eyes going wide. She stuttered for a second or two, the words getting jumbled as a result of her complete and utter shock. They hadn't spoken about marriage. Not specifically, apart from the brief talk about how both of them would like to do it one day. The table fell silent, all the other conversations that had been happening around them grinding to a halt as Holly spluttered a reply; "You what now?" she asked, wincing at how inarticulate that question was.

Gail didn't seem to realise that her words had caused a stir and she carried on munching the fries she had stolen from Chloe's plate.

"When we get married," she clarified, without even a blink as she said it. "I'm going to be Gail Stewart, okay? Then I can be Detective Stewart; none of this number three shit,"

The surprise at hearing her girlfriend talk so casually about marriage meant Holly had to brace herself on the back of Gail's chair, otherwise she might have fallen off her own. She glanced round the table at their equally shocked friends, staring them down one after the other until they turned away and pretended to be engrossed in their own conversations. She knew they were still listening however, so she kept her voice low.

"Okay. If you want," she said softly. She assumed Gail was talking hypothetically. _Yes, that's exactly what she is doing_ , she told herself. _Gail isn't serious. She's just being grumpy about a stupid nickname. You are not talking about getting married yet. No way. Even though she said 'when' and not 'if'. Don't even think about that ring that you put a deposit on a year ago, but chickened out of because you didn't want to scare your cat-like girlfriend out of the tree. So now you've got five hundred bucks locked on a piece of jewellery that lives in a shop safe, rather than on your girl's finger. And let's be honest about the real reason you waited; it's because you wanted Gail to be the one to ask you. Because you wanted that final reassurance that she was all in on this. That she had chosen you even after all the trouble you had been through with her work, her family and those nagging doubts your friends tried to plant about the straight beat cop._ Holly took a deep breath and forced herself to produce a casual grin, although most of the onlookers would later describe it as more of a panicked grimace.

Gail beamed back at her. "Great!" she enthused. "So I was thinking later this year? September, maybe?"

Holly was now completely lost. "For what?" she squeaked.

The cop pushed Holly's shoulder playfully. "To get married obviously! I know it's only six months, but neither of us want some crazy, big thing, right?" she asked.

That did it. The brunette gaped back at her, unable to speak and brown eyes welling up with tears born out of a mixture of shock, confusion and hope.

"Hey," said Gail quietly, finally noticing the turmoil written across her girlfriend's face. She swivelled her body around to face her properly and lifted a hand to cup her cheek. "You do want to get married, don't you?" she asked. She couldn't understand why Holly seemed to be freaking out about this. Surely she felt the same way Gail did? Like this was exactly where they were heading? Okay so they hadn't really spoken about it, but she had assumed they were on the same page. Gail had been thinking about it for months now and she had reached the point where it just seemed obvious. They should get married and they should do it soon. She couldn't wait to make Holly her wife and she had imagined it so often, it seemed bizarre that her girlfriend didn't seem to be aware of the plan.

Holly swallowed hard and tried to school her features into something more relaxed and carefree. Yet again she failed miserably. "Are you asking me?" she whispered, holding her breath and not daring to dream until it was completely confirmed.

 _Oh!_ Gail thought. _That's why she's confused._ _You haven't actually asked her yet!_ She blushed, feeling a little stupid to say the least. "Isn't it obvious?" she wondered, still not seeing how Holly had missed the clues, even without an actual proposal. She furrowed her brow and stroked her thumb across Holly's cheekbone, trying to convey her thoughts through that simple touch.

"No!" the pathologist replied, miserably.

"Oh hell. I'm messing this up," Gail swore under her breath and covered her face with her hands for a moment. She gathered her wits about her before looking up and meeting her girlfriend's eyes. "Yeah, hon. I am asking," she said, looking Holly directly in the eye.

The brunette gave a small shake of the head and Gail's heart dropped like a stone for a second before she realised the answer wasn't no just yet. "Gail, you'd better be serious, because this is not funny," Holly warned her.

"Of course I'm serious!" she assured her.

"Because you don't want to be called DP3?"

"No, you idiot!" Gail promised. "It's because I love you and I want to marry you. Look, I hadn't planned on asking you here and now…I've got a ring at home and everything, and I was waiting for the perfect time to do it right. But whatever. I want to marry you and I don't want to wait any longer," she said. She was so focused on her girlfriend that she didn't hear the gasps from the not so subtle watchers around the table.

Holly didn't care anymore however. Her smile was so wide that it almost split her face and she took Gail's hand in her own. "Ask me," she said, squeezing her girlfriend's fingers tightly.

Gail grinned back. "Holly, will you marry me?"

The brunette simply leant forward and kissed her soundly, having no words to tell Gail how much she loved her so electing to show her instead. As they pulled apart, she placed her forehead against Gail's and whispered her answer. "Yes. Of course I will,"

As soon as she said it, their friends erupted into loud cheers once more, banging their feet on the floor and drumming their hands on the table. "My man! Another round over here!" Oliver yelled at the bartender and the crowd cheered once more.

Gail flinched at all the noise, suddenly realising that she had just proposed in front of all their friends, many of whom were already half drunk. "Right," she said, blinking. "That's settled then,"

Her fiancée laughed at the perturbed look on the blonde's face. She pulled Gail back towards her and kissed her once more before the congratulations started to rain down on them.

Neither of them moved however, still lost in each other's eyes, despite the amount of people trying to pull them in to celebratory hugs. "I love you, Lunchbox," Gail murmured. It wasn't anything like how she had planned it, but now that Holly has said yes, she couldn't care less.

Holly sighed happily, unable to wipe the smile from her face. This was perfect. "I love you too," she replied.


	2. Chapter 2

Gail woke late the next morning, the sound of an incoming text message rousing her from her hungover sleep. The festivities at The Penny had gone on long into the night, then she and Holly had held their own celebration when they got home. Thankfully she was off work today. Holly wasn't so fortunate and had dragged her sorry ass out of bed hours earlier, staggering into work and cursing the blonde's luck.

The text therefore wasn't the most cheerful of messages, but at least it reassured Gail that her new fiancée was still alive.

 **H: Next time you propose, can you please not do it on a school night? Xx**

The cop laughed out loud and typed out a quick reply.

 **G: I didn't exactly plan it, don't blame me! You're the one who insisted I ask!**

It was true, she hadn't exactly meant to propose to Holly like that, which was why the ring she had picked out so carefully had been back at the house for when she was going to pop the question. Not having the ring with you for a proposal; that was the definition of bad planning. Gail rolled over to Holly's side of the bed and picked up the small box from her bedside table. She flipped open the lid and gazed at the white gold band with the embedded diamonds. When they had got home, she had grabbed the ring from its hiding place in the back of the junk food cupboard Holly let her keep in the kitchen. She knew the brunette would never go poking around in there. She had presented it to her fiancée…and of course, the damn thing didn't fit. In her defence, she had tried to match it before she bought it, but Holly didn't really wear rings so she couldn't swipe one to compare. And all her subtle attempts at trying to find out a ring size hadn't worked.

Her wonderful girlfriend hadn't cared though, laughing when the ring had been far too big to stay on her finger and admitting she didn't even know what size she was. So they had placed the ring back in the box and agreed to go and get it resized on the weekend, before getting distracted with other pursuits. Gail gently touched the band, imagining how it would look when it finally found its home on Holly's finger. She smiled at the thought. She couldn't wait.

The buzz of her phone distracted her from her daydreams and she carefully snapped the box shut before reading the message.

 **H: You announced to everyone we were getting married in September! I figured I should probably check with you about that! x**

Before Gail could even hit reply, another message came through.

 **H: And I borrowed a couple of rings from the girls at work to try on today. I'm a size 6! :o)**

The cop grinned. Clearly Holly had been so excited that she couldn't wait to sort out her own engagement ring. She was pleased the brunette was so happy.

 **G: Duly noted. Leave it with me. X**

She rolled sideways out of bed and padded down to the kitchen to make some coffee and breakfast, taking Holly's ring with her. She could visit the jewellers today and see how quickly they could resize it. As she sat down at the kitchen table to eat her cereal, she flipped the lid open again and stared at the band. She couldn't believe she had a fiancée. If someone had told her three years ago that she would be happily settled down with the love of her life, she would have laughed in their face. Taking on the protection job as a favour to Steve was the best thing she had ever done. Of course, her brother never let her forget that, constantly telling her that it was because of him that she had met Holly. Gail didn't believe that; she was firmly of the opinion that she and Holly would have found each other anyway. They worked for the same department after all. Even so, she would be forever grateful for those weeks she had spent working on the brunette's protection team and all the time it had given them to get to know one another. Even the terrifying moments where Holly was under threat; she wasn't a fan of those parts, but it had turned out okay in the end. After the trial had put away Kolarov and his gang leaders for life, they had been worried about a retaliation attack, but nothing had materialised and the Stewart family were able to get on with their lives as normal. Apart from Holly, who had acquired herself an insane cop girlfriend of course, and therefore life wouldn't ever be quite the same for her again.

Gail's musings were interrupted by the sound of her phone again and she grabbed it immediately, assuming it would be Holly replying to her message. This time the text was from another source however, nonetheless she grinned at the name on her screen and swiped to open the message.

 **S: Hey! I can't believe you! Why didn't you tell me you were going to do it last night?! I am hurt, Peck, really hurt. I'm the best man, remember?**

The blonde laughed at how well her friend managed to convey his wounded tone over text. Sanderson was the only person who had known she had bought a ring and was planning on proposing to Holly. She had told him immediately after buying it, when she had freaked out and needed someone to talk her down out the tree. Ever since the lanky officer had returned to Vancouver to resume his normal duties they had stayed in touch and over the years he had become her closest friend, despite the distance. They only managed to see each other a few times a year but as Holly's family all lived in Vancouver, there were more opportunities to get together than perhaps there would have been otherwise. Sanderson had also visited Toronto several times, particularly in that first year when he had somehow ended up dating Kate Stewart. Their relationship hadn't lasted all that long initially, but there seemed to be something there as they were constantly on and off again. Neither Gail or Holly were too pleased with that arrangement, though it seemed to work for the younger couple so they had given up on trying to interfere.

Despite her disapproval at his rocky relationship with Kate, Gail had come to rely on Sanderson's friendship. Once she had calmed down about the ring, she had bounced a few ideas for a proposal off him, not really settling on one. The last time they spoke, she was mulling over waiting until Spring as they both had time off over Easter and Gail thought they could go away for a few days. She hadn't decided on a destination though. She sighed and typed out a quick response. So maybe she hadn't come up with a grand plan, but the result was the same. Holly was going to marry her.

 **G: Sorry! It just happened. How do you know anyway?**

Instead of receiving a response however, her phone rang so she snatched it up and answered immediately. "Come on, who squealed?" she demanded.

Sanderson laughed loudly. "I was at Kate's last night when she got the text," he replied.

Gail rolled her eyes. Although it had been late when they got in yesterday, Holly hadn't been able to resist sending her parents and sister a picture of the ring, with a simple message saying 'Gail asked, I said yes! We're celebrating, I'll call you tomorrow!'

"Are you guys back on again then?" she asked, not sure she actually wanted to know.

"Ehm. Maybe. It's complicated," he hedged and she shook her head in disappointment as he carried on talking. "Anyway, don't change the subject! Congratulations! But tell me what happened?"

So Gail him the story of last night, how she had flippantly mentioned taking Holly's name which then turned into her blurting out her proposal in front of all their friends. Sanderson laughed delightedly, only offering an opinion when she had finished the tale.

"Holly is like the coolest chick ever. I can't believe she just said yes like that!" he said.

"Why wouldn't she? She loves me," Gail pointed out, confused by what her friend meant.

"Yeah, I know. But still. Most women like a bit of romance when it comes to marriage proposals. Hearts and flowers and all that. You know, like we spoke about?" he replied.

"I couldn't wait any longer!" Gail argued. He was right, she had initially planned on a grand gesture but since when had she and Holly ever done anything in the traditional manner?

"Well I'm sure Holly is thrilled. Even if it might have been nice to put a bit more effort in," Sanderson tried to placate her, but his words only gave her more cause to worry.

"Effort? What, do you think Hols will think I couldn't be bothered to make it special?" she squeaked, suddenly worrying that she hadn't done this right at all. She pushed away her breakfast, appetite suddenly gone.

"Well…maybe?" he hedged. "You know the doc, she's a big softie at heart. And a hopeless romantic; I mean, she cries at '50 First Dates', of all films! Now 'Love Actually', I get that one…." he began to ramble, leading Gail to sharply interrupt him.

"Sanderson. What are you telling me here? Do you think Holly wanted some kind of big, romantic gesture?" Gail asked, her tension leading her to stand and begin pacing across her kitchen.

"Um, yeah? Probably?" her friend replied, though his tone was uncertain in the face of the blonde's growing agitation.

Gail's heart dropped through the floor. _You've screwed it up_ , she told herself. "Holy shit, Scott! Why the hell didn't you tell me this before?" she berated the Vancouver man, even though she knew it was her own fault. She had spoken to Sanderson a couple of weeks ago about doing something amazing for Holly when she proposed. The brunette deserved it, after all. These last three years had been the happiest and most content Gail had ever been and it was all because of the nerdy pathologist who had crashed into her life so unexpectedly. She had wanted to show Holly exactly how much she meant to her before asking her to marry her. _But you just couldn't help yourself, could you?_ her conscience chastised her about how she had blurted out the proposal last night. For someone who didn't really like talking to people, Gail had developed quite the track record for letting her thoughts run free and that was all due to Holly's influence. She cursed the other woman under her breath. She had been constantly letting her guard down and her feelings slip ever since she had met the doctor; from telling her that she liked her to the day she had casually asked Holly if they could move in together… _oh God._

"Christ. This is just like when I asked her to move in, remember? I've done it again!" she moaned, scowling when she heard her friend laughing at her over the phone line.

"Yeah, you don't exactly think these things through, do you?" he chuckled, recalling the story. Gail had accidentally filled Holly's address in for herself on some official paperwork, because she was so used to spending most of her time there. Of course, she then freaked out when her mail started arriving at the brunette's home. She had tried to hide it for almost a week and had been quite successful until Holly bumped into the mailman on her driveway. When the brunette asked why Gail's payslips were now being delivered here, her girlfriend had cracked and basically yelled that she was moving in, she was bringing her Playstation and the rug in the hallway had to go because she didn't like it. "Hey, and what about when you first told her you loved her?" he pointed out.

Gail groaned. He was right; that had been completely out the blue as well. She had kept trying to tell Holly how she felt but couldn't find the words. It got to the stage where she was so worked up about it that she burst into the morgue and announced it when Holly was elbow deep in a decomposed corpse…and in front of half a dozen interns. The blonde had to try to defend her actions though; "I do think about things! That's the problem! I wanted to ask Holly for weeks about moving in and I bought this ring ages ago too. The problem is that I think too long and then it all just comes spilling out of me!" she argued. "Argh!" she yelled, throwing her hands up in exasperation and so nearly missing his reply.

"It'll be okay. She seemed happy, right?" Sanderson asked. "She didn't seem to be a bit, you know, disappointed?"

The blonde thought back over last night's events. Holly had been excited, she knew that. She had seemed thrilled about the engagement although now she thought about it, there was definitely even more enthusiasm when Gail had actually produced a ring and proved it wasn't a spur of the moment thing. Yes, Holly had certainly been…appreciative when they got home. _Although she did ask you if you were serious at the bar_ , her snide inner voice said, throwing some doubt into the mix.

"She asked if I was serious. And if I only wanted to do it so I didn't have to keep the stupid nickname the squad have assigned me…" she admitted to him slowly.

"Ah," muttered Sanderson and she could hear his judgment loud and clear through the ensuing silence.

"Oh shit," she said again. "I made her think I only want to marry her for some pointless reason, didn't I?"

She didn't miss the fact that her friend avoided answering that question directly. "Well the moving in thing turned out okay. And the whole fiasco of pouring your heart out over a rotting murder victim. I'm sure this will too. The important thing is you're getting married; she said yes and she's wearing your ring on her finger, right?" Sanderson tried to console his former partner, knowing that however the proposal happened, his two friends were made for one another. He'd known that from the moment he noticed them eyeing each other up in the early days of their witness protection assignment and he felt honoured to have watched them grow together in the years since.

The blonde was about to agree but she spied the small, open ring box that was still sat on the kitchen table. She strolled over to it and gently drew the tip of her finger over the cool metal, tipping it slightly so the stones caught the light. "Not yet," she murmured slowly, an idea forming in her mind.

She had nearly forgotten who had prompted her thought train, so when the officer from Vancouver spoke again it almost made her jump. "Not yet?" he queried, curiously.

"I've got to go," she told him. "I might have screwed this up, but I can still fix it!"

"What? What do you mean?" Sanderson asked but Gail simply cut him off, too excited to explain now.

"I'll call you tomorrow!" she replied, already moving the phone away from her ear to end the call. "See you soon, idiot," she yelled down the line before cutting him off.

She grinned as she snapped the jewellery box shut and stowed it carefully in her jacket pocket near the door. As she headed back upstairs to get washed and dressed, she was already scrolling through her phone contacts. She had some calls to make – today was going to be a busy day. But she could do this, of course she could. _Hearts and flowers,_ she reminded herself. _And romance!_ It wasn't her strongest suit but she had a few ideas and for Holly, she would do anything.


	3. Chapter 3

It was a Friday evening a little over a week later when Holly let herself into their home, humming mindlessly under her breath. It had been a busy week but she had the next three days off and was looking forward to a bout of rest and relaxation. Unfortunately Gail was working today and tomorrow, but at least they would have a couple of days together before they both had to return to work. She dumped her red forensic kit bag in its place by the door and shrugged off her coat and shoes. As she moved into the kitchen, the sound of a lightsabre swishing through the air emitted from her phone and she tugged it from her pants pocket. Gail said the message tone was too geeky, even for the world's biggest nerd, but she liked it. She read the one word text message and her eyebrows arched up almost into her hairline.

 **G: Bedroom.**

She smirked at the command itself and the flush of excitement it caused within her. How did Gail even know she was home? _Maybe she's managed to get a couple of hours off?_ she thought, knowing that Gail was supposed to be on shift until much later that night. Well if the cop chose to spend her break tucked up in bed, then who was Holly to deny her that? She quickly checked her reflection in the hallway mirror, pulling her hair out of the high ponytail and combing her fingers through it and undoing another button on her shirt. She then practically skipped up the stairs, careful to school her features into what she hoped was a sexy and seductive look as she pushed open the door to their bedroom. As she stepped into the room however, she quickly realised her blonde bombshell was nowhere to be seen. The bed was neatly made with pristine new sheets and the only sign of something out the ordinary were the items laid out on top of the covers.

Holly slowly approached the bed, glancing all around the room in case Gail was hidden from view. Her girlfriend – no, fiancée, she hadn't had time to get used to that yet – was definitely up to something and she was intrigued to find out what. She started from the left and picked up the small white card propped up against an ice bucket. _'_ _Drink me'_ it read, in her girlfriend's distinctive immaculate handwriting. Holly pulled the glass and the bottle of white wine from the ice bucket, noticing it was one of her favourites and smiling. Okay, Gail had something up her sleeve tonight. But if that something included a fine New Zealand sauvignon blanc, then Holly wasn't going to complain at all.

She carefully poured herself a glass, then set the bottle back and moved the bucket to the dresser, not trusting it to stay upright on the bed, plus mindful that it had already left a slightly damp patch…and on her side of the bed no less. She resolved that she would have to spend the night curled up on Gail's side to avoid it. _Such a hardship,_ she thought. Holly picked up the next card and out fell the small remote to her I-pod dock. _'_ _Play me'_ read the card and so the brunette pointed the remote in the direction of the box shelves above the bed and pressed the play button. Soft music filled the room and although it took Holly a moment or two to pinpoint the song, when she did she actually swooned a little. All those years ago on their first date, Gail had taken her out for dinner and then they'd gone someplace for a drink. When this soft ballad had played, Holly had watched the blonde's eyes dart round the room and seen her fiddle with her glass before she finally summoned up the courage to ask the pathologist to dance. Holly had happily accepted and ever since she had spent those few minutes in Gail's arms, pressed together and swaying gently to the music, she had considered this to be 'their' song. Gail had told her she thought that having a couple's song was a completely sappy concept that she would have no part of, but she knew her girlfriend secretly loved it too. The fact that the blonde had set this up for her on the I-pod meant one thing and one thing only. She had no idea what she had done to deserve it and it certainly wasn't a special occasion but clearly for some reason she was being thoroughly wooed tonight. A delicious tingle flittered up her spine at the thought and she couldn't help glancing over her shoulder to make sure that Gail wasn't watching her. Of course, there was nobody behind her so she moved on to the next item, safe in the knowledge that Gail would put in an appearance when she was good and ready.

Holly picked up her next gift, a fairly heavy cylinder wrapped in paper that was covered in small baseballs. She snorted in amusement; clearly Gail had put a lot of thought into all this, yet she must have forgotten the tiny detail of buying gift wrap as Holly recognised the paper was the same they had used for Leo's birthday present last month. She shook the package and gave it a squeeze but was none the wiser so she flipped open the white card for a clue and read the message out loud. "Use me in the bathroom?" The clue didn't tell her what was in the gift but she rushed through to the bathroom anyway, hoping to see Gail in there; preferably in the bath and very naked. Her wish was only partly granted however as when she entered the other room; there was no sign of the cop but somebody had drawn her a bath. She dipped her fingers into the water and found it was still hot as she swished the bubbles around. Her girlfriend had clearly been here not so long ago. Suddenly it made sense why Steve had waylaid her earlier when she was leaving the lab. She had assumed it had been just an accidental crossing of paths but now that she thought about it, it was fairly coincidental that the elder Peck had just happened to be hanging about in reception at the end of her shift! She shook her head. Gail had evidently been very sneaky this afternoon though as the end result was so lovely she would let her girlfriend have her secrets. Speaking of which, she finally ripped the gaudy paper away from the package in her hand to find a bottle of her favourite body wash. Yet another example of the effort that had gone into this set up; Holly knew this brand wasn't easy to find, or cheap for that matter.

She left the bottle on the side of the bath and headed back into the bedroom, ready to shed her clothing, grab her glass of wine and jump into a relaxing bath. It was only then she realised that there was still one gift left. She pulled the card off the oblong box and read the message with steadily climbing eyebrows; _'_ _Wear me tonight…with your red dress. I'm picking you up at 7.30'._ She flipped the lid off the box and stared down at the black lingerie contained inside. _Okay then,_ she thought, swallowing hard and blinking behind her glasses. This seemed to be more of a present for Gail than for her although she had no doubt that they would both get a lot of enjoyment from it. And apparently they were going out tonight, which was a much better offer than her previous plan of eating a sandwich on the couch whilst watching a film on her own and probably dozing off. Gail was supposed to have been working, but maybe she had been able to swap a shift.

She grabbed her phone once more and checked the time, seeing she had just over an hour to get ready for her unexpected date, she fired off a quick text message to her fiancée.

 **H: Thank you for my wonderful gifts! Very sneaky! Where are we going tonight, I thought you were working?! xx**

The reply was almost instantaneous which was another reason Holly thought that Gail was somehow keeping tabs on all this.

 **G: Can't tell you, it's a surprise. And I've got the night off, so get that dress on my nerdy future wife and be ready for half past!**

Holly laughed delightedly and tossed her phone onto the bed. She practically skipped over to the closet and pulled out the dress in question. She knew exactly which one Gail wanted her to wear. It wasn't often that Holly wore dresses but when she did, the cop was always putty in her hands. This one was a particular favourite for Gail; Holly had bought it for Traci and Steve's wedding and from the moment Gail saw her in it, she had been absolutely enchanted. So much so, they had snuck away between the ceremony and dinner so Gail could explore it more thoroughly. The blonde had almost missed being a part of the official photographs which would have been rather difficult to explain as not only was she related to the groom, she was also one of Traci's bridesmaids. Holly was pretty confident that she could tease out the same reaction from her fiancée tonight, so she laid the dress out on the bed and quickly undressed.

Holly threw her clothes in the laundry hamper and grabbed her wine. She strolled over to the I-pod dock to turn the volume up so she could hear it from the bathroom. The song had now changed and she furrowed her brow trying to place it. When she checked the display however, she recognised the link straight away; this was a band she and Gail had gone to see in concert a couple of years ago. She smiled and scrolled through the rest of the playlist, quickly realising all of the songs were special to the two of them in some way. There was the one Holly liked to belt out in the car much to her girlfriend's embarrassment, a romantic ballad Gail had sung for her in a karaoke competition (following a lot of persuasion from the Fifteen gang) and the upbeat number that all the girls at Traci's Bachelorette party had torn up the dancefloor for. There were even a couple Holly didn't recognise but rather than spending time trying to work them out, she made a mental note to ask Gail about them later. She had a date night to get ready for, so she made her way to the bathroom to begin her preparations.

An hour later, Holly was waiting patiently when the clock ticked round to half past seven. It didn't surprise her that Gail arrived exactly on time although she was a little confused when her fiancée knocked at the door instead of letting herself in to their home. She answered the door ready to tease Gail about forgetting her keys yet again, but the smart comment died on her lips when she caught sight of the stunning blonde standing on their doorstep. Holly had never seen the black sheath dress Gail wore before but within seconds of laying eyes on it she was already a big fan. It was simple, elegant and sexy and Gail looked so good in it that Holly was suddenly glad that her girlfriend had picked out an outfit for her too, or she may well have ended up totally underdressed.

The blonde couldn't complain at how blatantly her fiancée was checking her out, because she was doing the exact same thing. She tore her eyes away from Holly's bare arms and held out the flowers she had bought. "For you," she said, smiling at the way the pathologist had to blink as if to clear her thoughts.

"Thank you," Holly accepted the bouquet, noticing it was almost the same arrangement Gail had bought her for their first date. "Do I have time to put them in water?" she asked and her fiancée nodded.

"I'll wait here," Gail told her. The brunette lifted an eyebrow and so she shrugged. "I'm supposed to be picking you up for a romantic date! You and I both know that if I come in, with you dressed like that and me dressed like this, it'll become a sex date and we'll be late,"

"Well you did buy me underwear," the doctor pointed out. "And I look pretty hot in it. Are you sure you don't want a sneak preview?"

The cop frowned and stepped back a little. "That's for later. I'm staying right here," she insisted, pointing down at the threshold in front of her feet. "It's the only way to be safe!"

"Gail, you live here! I'm fairly sure you can enter your own home without us jumping on each other!" Holly argued, but the blonde simply shook her head. Holly laughed and quickly ran through to the kitchen, leaving the flowers in a jug in the sink. She re-joined her girlfriend at the front door.

"Ready?" Gail asked.

The pathologist gave herself the once over in the hallway mirror. _You scrub up well, Stewart,_ she told herself.

"Yes," she stated, leaning in giving Gail a quick kiss on the lips. "Hi!" she said as they pulled apart.

"Hey," the cop replied, grinning. She offered her arm for Holly and they walked down the driveway to where Gail's car was parked up on the road. The blonde opened the passenger door for her fiancée before shutting it behind her and walking round the vehicle to get in the driver's side.

"So, are you going to tell me where we're going now?" Holly inquired as they pulled away from the curb.

"Nope. Still a secret!" Gail told her. The brunette rolled her eyes at the gleeful tone. She really didn't mind, she was just happy to be spoilt like this.

"Okay, okay," she acquiesced. "So, tell me what the occasion is then? Not that I'm complaining about you getting all cute and romantic on me. I've had a great evening already, and we haven't even started our date properly yet!"

"I am not cute," Gail warned her, eyeing her sternly at a break in the traffic.

"Honey, you made me a playlist, drew me a bath, bought me flowers and left me romantic notes about a surprise date. That's not just cute, that's adorable," Holly informed her.

"Yeah well. Can't a girl just treat her favourite human once in a while?"

"Of course she can," the brunette agreed, stretching over to plant a kiss on Gail's cheek and graciously pretending not to notice the blush creeping up from her neck. "Thank you, Gail. I loved it and I'm sure tonight is going to be wonderful," She honestly didn't mind if her shy cop wanted to be coy about things. Clearly something was going on; Gail wasn't usually one for grand, outwardly romantic gestures. The blonde was more subtle in showing her feelings for Holly. She _was_ sweet and thoughtful but it was usually in a private setting and involved small actions which showed how much she cared. It was rare for Gail to take the clichéd route such as flowers and chocolate; Valentine's Day this year had been a trip to a science convention and a Doctor Who box set.

They made small talk for the rest of the drive before Gail finally pulled up outside a small restaurant in the city. Holly didn't recognise it, but the name and décor tipped her off to what sort of cuisine was on offer. "We're going here? I love Italian!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"I know," Gail grinned at her, killing the engine. "Wait there," she said before running round to open Holly's door once again.

"A true gentleman," Holly teased as she stepped out of the car, taking the hand that Gail offered to help her up. She couldn't resist dropping another kiss on the corner of Gail's mouth but the blonde tugged her closer and turned her head to capture Holly's lips properly. She smiled at the glazed look on her girlfriend's face as they broke apart.

"Shall we?" she asked and she led Holly into the small restaurant.

As soon as they entered, the young waiter's eyes lit up and he rushed over to them. "Officer Peck! It's great to see you again!" he enthused.

"Hi, Luca," she replied, smirking when she noticed Holly's surprised glance. Considering she had only met the guy a couple of times before, he was doing a great job of making it seem like she was a special guest. She had found this place completely by accident a couple of months ago when she was called out to a robbery in progress here. The quick thinking owner of the convenience store across the street had called it in as soon as he saw men entering the restaurant with baseball bats so when Gail and Oliver had arrived, the thugs were still on the scene. Their sirens had caused the men to scatter with a week's earnings in their pockets. Oliver had blocked one of them as he came through the door but the other escaped because Gail had been more concerned about the guy still inside. The would-be thief was threatening the restaurant owner with his bat and slamming it down on the carefully laid tables, smashing plates and glasses as he did so. She ducked under his wild swing and tackled him to the ground, cuffing him in a matter of seconds. When back up arrived, she and Oliver took to the streets and eventually found the third man ten blocks away, still with the cash in his pockets. It was the perfect collar.

The restaurant was family owned and run and they would have been hit hard by the loss of a week's income so Gail took immense pleasure in handing it straight back to the grateful owners. In fact, the Chiellini family had been so appreciative they had forced Gail and Oliver to sit down and enjoy lunch on them and Gail had never tasted such amazing home cooked Italian food. She had been meaning to bring Holly here ever since and so when trying to think of a place for her evening of grand gestures, this had been top of the list. She had popped in last week to ask about a table and the family had immediately made room on their reservations list for her. When she had told them what the occasion was, they had been beyond excited and had agreed to pull out all the stops for her. They were so eager to lay on the full works that explaining how she and Holly were actually already engaged hadn't even remotely dampened their enthusiasm.

"Your table is right over here," Luca instructed, gesturing for the two women to follow him. He pulled out their chairs at the candlelit table and ensured both women were seated comfortably.

"Thank you," Gail said, before introducing her fiancée to the young man. "Luca, this is Holly; my girlfriend. Holly, this is Luca. His parents own this place," she explained.

"Pleased to meet you, Luca," Holly said, offering her hand for him to shake.

The dark haired waiter may have been born and bred in Toronto, but he had still inherited the Italian flair from his father so he bent low to kiss the back of Holly's hand and smiled at her. "It's a pleasure, Dr Stewart. You are just as beautiful as Officer Peck told us you were,"

Holly giggled as Gail rolled her eyes and poked him in the ribs. "Alright Casanova, no flirting with my girl!" she warned him.

Luca held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture and smiled back. "I'll go and get your wine," he said, heading off towards the small bar in the corner of the room.

"Thanks. And it's Gail, remember!" she called after him, having spent most of her time here last week trying to get the family to call her by her given name rather than her rank, which was actually out of date now anyway. She turned back towards the beautiful brunette opposite her. Holly's eyes were dancing with merriment in the candlelight and she quirked an eyebrow at her fiancée.

"What?" Gail asked.

"He knows what wine we're having already?" Holly asked. "I have a feeling even more planning went into this evening than I realised," she fished. For some reason the blonde had pulled out all the stops today and she wanted to know why.

"Well, you know. I just wanted to make sure they had something we liked," Gail shrugged.

Holly smiled at her, knowing when it came to wine there wasn't much she didn't like and so whatever was coming out was probably more than just a type she liked.

Sure enough, when an older man approached their table, the bottle of red he set down was one of her absolute favourites. Holly didn't have time to comment though, as the man virtually lifted her girlfriend out of her seat to greet her.

"Officer Peck! You are very lovely this evening!" he boomed and he enveloped Gail in a huge hug and kissed both of her cheeks.

"Thanks, Giorgio. It's good to see you too," Gail told him as she wriggled a little uncomfortably in his embrace. "And it's Gail!" she corrected, as he finally let her go.

The large man didn't acknowledge her correction however as he had turned his attention to Holly. "Technically it's Detective Peck," Holly offered with a proud smile.

Giorgio actually did a double take. "You got promoted?" he asked, excitedly.

Gail nodded and ducked her head as a flush broke out across her face.

"Then this is a double celebration! I must tell Elena and Luca," he replied, looking around the room for his son. His voice echoed across the restaurant and caused the other customers to look across at them curiously. That only increased Gail's embarrassment and so she tried to distract Giorgio by introducing him to Holly.

"This is…" she started to say, but was interrupted by the Italian's accented voice.

"Dr Stewart!" he announced. The brunette rose up to meet him before she was engulfed in a similar greeting to the one Gail had been subjected to. "It's wonderful to meet you, finally!" Giorgio continued as he kissed her cheeks.

Gail raised an eyebrow. _Okay, now you're laying it on too thick,_ she thought. She had only told Giorgio and his wife about Holly last week when she booked the table. The way he was talking made it sound like she had been prattling on to them about her girlfriend for ages. She hurriedly made a proper introduction, afraid that if she didn't, the Italian would never let the pathologist go. "Giorgio, this is my girlfriend, Holly. Holly, meet Giorgio Chiellini. His name is above the door; he owns this place and runs it with the rest of his family. His wife Elena does all the cooking and it's the best Italian food in the city,"

The heavy set man roared with laughter and finally put Holly down. The doctor didn't seem to be uncomfortable though as she returned the warm hug and complimented her surroundings.

"Pleased to meet you. This is a lovely place you have here," she said, looking around the cosy restaurant and taking in the welcoming atmosphere. Most of the dozen or so tables were occupied, mainly by couples like themselves, and the buzz of conversation flowed under the soft music playing in the background.

"Grazie, grazie. But it's made much, much better I think, by having two beautiful ladies here with us tonight," he replied with a wink as both women settled back in their chairs. Giorgio produced a corkscrew from the pocket in his red apron and deftly opened the wine. He poured a little into Holly's glass and gestured for her to taste it, which she did so gladly.

"Delicious," she told him and he smiled broadly before topping up her glass. As he moved on to Gail, she raised her hand.

"Just a small glass for me please, I'm driving," she warned him.

The older man nodded and poured a small measure of wine. "Luca will bring you over water for the table and Elena made fresh lemonade this morning; you must try some," he replied.

"Sounds great," Gail nodded.

"Bene! Now, Elena is busy cooking, dinner will be served in ten minutes. You just relax and enjoy yourselves. We're so happy you chose Chiellini's for your special evening, Miss Peck, so you let me know if there's anything we can do for you," Giorgio said as he unfolded their napkins.

Gail frowned at him; if he kept talking like that he would let her secret slip. Holly had definitely looked quizzical when he mentioned their 'special evening' but hopefully she would think he was just referring to Gail making an effort to be extra romantic.

"Just the water please," she asked, hoping to get rid of the guy before he opened his mouth again.

Giorgio nodded. "Luca!" he called out and his son scuttled out of the kitchen.

"Luca will be looking after you; you call him if there's anything you need. If he is busy with other guests, you shout for me, okay?" he told them. The dark haired young man beside him stood a full six inches taller than his father, but Giorgio didn't let that deter him from passing on his orders. "You take good care of our special guests, Luca! We want this evening to be perfect for them. Fetch a water jug for the table, and a glass of your mama's lemonade for Detective Peck," He clapped his son on the shoulder, bowed slightly to Gail and Holly and then headed off in the direction of the kitchen. Luca grinned at them and went to fetch the water, leaving them alone for a moment.

"Cheers," Gail said, raising her glass.

The brunette returned the gesture, but before she touched her glass against Gail's she asked "What are we drinking to?"

"To us," answered the cop smoothly, whilst inwardly cursing the fact Holly had picked up on how effusive Giorgio had been.

Her girlfriend shrugged. Something was clearly behind this sudden show of romance from Gail but she was enjoying it far too much to pry. "To us," she returned the toast, clinking her glass to the other woman's before taking a sip. "So, someone's popular here! Come here often do you?" she asked, wondering why Gail had never brought her here before, as she seemed so friendly with the owners.

"I've only eaten here once before…" Gail replied before explaining how she had come across the small restaurant through work and telling Holly the story of the captured criminals. "I've been meaning to bring you here ever since, but I was waiting for the right occasion," she finished.

"And today is a special occasion?" Holly probed once more.

"When do I ever get an unexpected night off?" Gail deflected, with a smile.

Holly nodded in agreement, staring into those sky blue eyes which seemed to sparkle like sapphires in the candlelight. She reached out and placed her hand on top of Gail's where it lay resting on the table. "We'd better make the most of it then," she said.

"I love you," Gail replied, all conscious thoughts suddenly chased out of her mind by the touch of Holly's hand and the scrutiny of her dark eyes.

"I love you too. And I can't wait to marry you," Holly informed her, rubbing her thumb over the band on Gail's finger. The weekend after Gail's proposal, she had marched down to the jewellery store which had held the ring for her for all those months and paid the remaining balance. She had presented it to her girlfriend without fanfare that evening. Initially the blonde hadn't wanted to wear it until they could get Holly's own engagement ring resized, but the pathologist had insisted. She wanted the world to know Gail was hers. Since then, the cop had only taken the ring off for work and even then she kept it on a chain round her neck, hidden close to her heart beneath her undershirt.

"I can't wait to get my ring back either," Holly continued as she played with her fiancée's ring. "Did you call the store today?"

"Ah, yeah," Gail answered, debating which white lie would be more believable. The ring had been returned to her days ago, but she couldn't carry out tonight's grand plan if she had let the brunette have it straight away. So she had been telling Holly that the resize was taking a while. Her fiancée had been understanding to start with but was now getting more impatient and Gail had already had to stop her stomping down there once. "They said you'll have it tomorrow," she finally settled on, wording the answer carefully so as to not actually lie.

Luckily for Gail, at that moment they were interrupted by Luca when the young waiter delivered their water.

"Are you ladies ready for your first course?" he asked and they both nodded in anticipation. "Then I'll bring it straight out for you. To start we have ravioli. Your main course is chicken cacciatore with grilled vegetables…no tomatoes in anything, of course! And then if you have room for dessert…"

"There is always room for dessert, Luca, always," Gail interrupted him firmly.

"Then you're going to love Mama's chocolate brownies. With homemade ice cream, of course!" he announced, leaving them to it once more.

"You really are spoiling me tonight, Gail. Those are all my favourites," Holly said, almost overwhelmed by the amount of thought her fiancée had put into this evening.

"You deserve it," the blonde replied, smiling happily at how pleased Holly looked.

Before their first dish arrived, Holly excused herself to go to the bathroom and so when Luca reappeared out of the kitchen, Gail took the opportunity to call him over.

"Pssst!" she hissed. "Will you tell your Dad to cool it? He's going to give the game away!" she scolded him.

"Sorry, Detective Peck! I'll tell him. He's just excited for you…wait till you see Mom, she's even worse!" he apologised, glancing around him to make sure nobody was listening.

"Well keep her in the kitchen then, for Christ's sake! I don't know what the big deal is, we're already engaged," Gail said, her head in her hands.

"If it wasn't a big deal, you wouldn't have gone to all this trouble," the young man smirked and tapped his finger to his temple.

"Oh shut up. And quick, she's coming back," the blonde yelped, casually staring out the window as the waiter scurried away and Holly came back to their table.

Soon afterwards, Luca served the first dish and from the first bite Gail knew the meal was going to be a hit with the pathologist. Sure enough, every course was delicious; fresh ingredients and traditional flavours brought to life by Elena's skilful cooking. In particular Holly's moan of delight when she first tasted the brownies was enough to make Gail raise her eyebrows. They spent their evening enjoying the food and each other's company, both of them marvelling at the woman sat opposite. Gail could hardly take her eyes off the brunette – she loved admiring Holly in anything but because she wore a dress so rarely, it always left her captivated. Holly wondered where Gail had gotten ready for their date; the blonde looked so flawless that couldn't imagine that she got ready in the scruffy locker room at the station? Her girlfriend had often told her that getting dressed was the best part of the date – Holly begged to differ on that one, thinking there were several other parts she really enjoyed – but when the result was this stunning, she couldn't begrudge the time Gail spent primping herself.

As their meal came to an end, they were in no rush to leave so they enjoyed a coffee and swapped easy conversation and light banter. Yet when Holly deliberately ran her foot up Gail's calf and gave her a sexy smile, the cop decided it was time to move onto phase two of the plan. Holly seemed to be skipping ahead to phase four or five and if she let the brunette go any further, she'd never be able to get them to their destination safely. She signalled for the bill and Giorgio brought it over with a shot of limoncello for Holly. As her fiancée thanked the restaurant owner, Gail scanned over the bill and frowned.

"This isn't right, Giorgio!" she exclaimed.

"Too much?" he asked, sounding concerned. "Did I add something extra?"

"No! It's too little! You haven't changed us for half the meal or the coffee and there's no service charge…" she told him, pointing at the paper and the price on the bottom which was nowhere near enough for a three course meal, plus drinks.

"Ah!" he said in relief. "It's right, don't worry,"

"I really don't think it is; take a look," Gail suggested, trying to hand him back the bill.

"No, no. It's right. That's family price. You get family price, Detective Peck, always when you come here, okay?" he insisted, his accent getting heavier as he tried to argue.

"Oh no, Giorgio, please. I can't let you do that!" she pleaded.

"You got our money back," he explained with a shrug. "You and Sergeant Shaw, you saved our business. Never could we afford to lose a week's pay. You are heroes to the family. This is a small thank you,"

She wrinkled her nose, embarrassed by his praise. "But that's just my job…" she tried to deflect.

"Please, Miss Peck. You will let us do this for you, especially tonight. Elena will be very upset if you turn down our hospitality," he said, slyly, knowing that Gail wouldn't want to offend his wife.

The blonde glanced over at Holly, who raised her hands to show she wasn't going to get involved. Gail sighed. "Okay," she conceded. She got her purse and took out enough bills to cover the highly discounted meal, plus as generous a tip as she thought he would let her get away with. "Thank you so much, Giorgio,"

"Prego," he said, with a wave of his hands to shake off her thanks before going to fetch their jackets.

As they rose from the table, Holly leaned over to whisper in her fiancée's ear. "Don't worry. We'll spread the word about this place to everyone at the division, get the guys dropping in for lunch. They'll make their money back in no time,"

Gail smiled at her genius girlfriend, knowing that a truck load of hungry cops from Fifteen would certainly give business a boost. She dropped a quick kiss on Holly's cheek and they headed towards the door but before they could leave, a tiny woman came barrelling out of the kitchen.

"Gail! So sorry I did not say ciao earlier, very busy in my kitchen tonight!" she exclaimed as she threw her arms round Gail. The blonde bent down to give the older woman a hug.

"It's okay, Elena. Dinner was delicious, thank you," she complimented the chef.

Elena beamed at the praise and kissed Gail on both cheeks as she let her go. She pushed a plastic box into the cop's hands. "I make you more brownies for home," she explained.

"Oh Elena, you shouldn't have, it's too much," Gail protested, already embarrassed at the attention the family were showering on her.

"No, no! And now you must come back to eat here, see? To bring my box back?" the Italian woman laughed delightedly at her own bright idea and Gail couldn't help smiling too. Before she could respond, Elena had turned towards Holly.

"Holly! Gail's ragazza, no?" she said, giving the brunette the once over before grabbing her in another bone crushing hug. She gave Gail a look over Holly's shoulder as she did so and nodded approvingly "Lei è molto bella!" she told the cop.

As Elena stepped back from Holly, she held onto the pathologist's hands and repeated herself in English. "You are very beautiful!"

Holly blushed, but the chef hadn't finished. "And you make Detective Gail very happy, I know. So you are family too. She saved our business, she tell you? Big hero!"

"Yeah, she is," Holly agreed softly and her eyes shone with pride as she smiled at her fiancée.

Eventually, after several more rounds of hugs and kisses and a confirmed booking for Holly's birthday dinner in a couple of months, the family let Gail and Holly go. After opening Holly's door for her once more, Gail stepped round the back of their car to quickly send a prepared text message. Onto the next phase of her plan. Job done, she settled into her seat and let out a sigh. "Well I wasn't expecting all that," she said ruefully, "Sorry."

Holly reached over and ran her hand over Gail's upper arm. "Hey, what are you sorry for? It was lovely. I liked seeing how grateful people are for what you do for them. Too many people want to hurt you because of your job; it was nice to see the other side of it," she told her.

The blonde shrugged. "I was just doing my job though, that's all," she deflected.

"You're their hero," Holly insisted before stretching across and kissing Gail's cheek softly. "And you're mine too, you know that?"

Gail swallowed at the heartfelt compliment which meant the world to her, far more than all the commendations and free brownies from grateful members of the public could. She didn't trust herself to reply, so she nodded and squeezed Holly's hand.

"Good," replied the brunette. "So, drive us home and let me show you exactly how I feel about my hero," she instructed, letting go of Gail's hand to fasten her seatbelt.

"Well about that; I've actually got another idea. Are you up for a bit of a drive?" the cop asked.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" Holly challenged her.

"Nope,"

The pathologist gave her fiancée a suspicious look. "What do I win if I figure it out before we get there?"

"You'll have to wait and see when we do get there," Gail offered.

"Drive on then, James, don't spare the horses," Holly laughed and gave her permission with a regal wave of her hand.

Of course, Gail knew it wasn't going to take long for the brunette to work out their destination because they had driven this route plenty of times over the past few years. So it was no shock when that halfway there, Holly piped up in a satisfied tone; "We're going to the cabin,"

"Yup," Gail replied, even though it wasn't a question. Ever since that week they had spent hiding out at Oliver's cabin, the place had become special for the two of them and Gail couldn't think of a better place to carry out her plan. They had spent many weekends up here together; birthdays and anniversaries and even one very memorable Christmas. Oliver had officially given Gail a spare key so she no longer had to pull out the hidden one from the wood pile. Apparently Celery had told him during one of their visits that the cabin "felt" like it belonged to Gail and Holly. She said their aura was strong there and the building's spirit recognised it. Oliver wasn't one to argue with his wife's witch powers and so had told Gail to go up there whenever she liked, she didn't need to ask permission.

"Won't you have to leave crazy early in the morning to get to work?" Holly asked, excited about going to their favourite place but concerned about a potential five A.M. wake up call.

Gail grinned and took her eyes off the road for a moment to glance at Holly and watch the reaction to her news; "I've actually got the whole weekend off. I packed our stuff earlier and it's in the back, and neither of us have to be back at work until Tuesday," she told her.

Holly gave what could only be described as an excited yelp before controlling herself. "You are full of surprises tonight, honey," she played, placing her hand on Gail's thigh.

The blonde smirked, "I take it you're happy to spend the whole weekend up at the cabin then? You, me, an open fire and a tiny double bed?"

"I can't wait. Drive faster, Detective Peck!"

"Yes ma'am,"


	4. Chapter 4

It was getting close to midnight when Gail finally turned the car up the narrow track that led towards the cabin. Holly was therefore expecting the place to be in pitch darkness but as they rounded the final bend she gasped in astonishment. The deck of the cabin was covered in hundreds of fairy lights, twinkling in the moonlight. The effect was magical and the brunette laughed delightedly as she jumped out of the car. She ran up the steps and stood in the middle of the deck, turning to look at the lights which were hanging from all the railings and the overhang. "Beautiful," she said, lightly running her fingers over one of the sparkling strings.

"Hmmm. Fire hazard," Gail muttered, coming up behind her and trying to look unaffected despite being impressed with Andy and Traci's decorating skills. She knew she had made the right choice by roping her two friends in for this part of the plan and leaving Steve to spy on Holly. Her brother had treated his role like a James Bond mission; delaying Holly on her way out of the lab then tipping Gail off to finish her preparations and leave the coast clear at home. He had then tailed the brunette and cued his sister so she could send her own messages at the perfect time. On the other side of the coin, the two women were more like giddy schoolgirls when asked to create a romantic scene in Oliver's cabin. Gail had given them precise instructions, but knew they would add their own touches. Still she figured both of them were sappy enough to make it look romantic without being totally overboard like Chloe would have been.

"Oh shush. We both know you're a secret romantic and this just proves it," Holly scolded her as she wrapped her arms round the blonde.

"Well you know. I've never brought my fiancée here before, I thought I'd better jazz it up a little bit," she replied.

Holly kissed her hard. "I love it. Thank you," she said. "Can we sit out here for a bit?"

Thinking quickly Gail replied "Sure. It's not warm enough without blankets though. Do you want to grab some from inside?" she told her, handing over the key. "I'll bring the bag and I've got the rest of that wine in the car too,"

The brunette nodded, excited about cuddling up under the twinkling lights for a bit. However, when she opened the front door she nearly tripped over the threshold as yet another surprise awaited her. The fire was roaring in the grate and in front of it the couch had been pushed back and a pile of comfortable pillows and blankets were laid out, scattered with rose petals. Tea light candles were flickering on every available surface in the room and there was a chilled bottle of champagne standing in an ice bucket.

Holly swung back around to find a grinning Gail peering over her shoulder. "Okay, you definitely had help with this bit as this really could be a fire hazard," she said, the wonder in her face overriding her teasing words.

Gail shrugged mysteriously, knowing full well that McNally and Nash would have escaped to where their car was hidden out the back as soon as they heard Gail's approach. As she surveyed the cabin she had to again admit that the duo had done a good job, although she wasn't thrilled with the petals. _Overkill – and a pain in the butt to tidy up,_ she thought. _I bet that was McNally's influence._

She was distracted from her musings by Holly's hand on her waist however, tugging her through the door. "I've changed my mind," the brunette said. "Let's sit by the fire instead,"

As Gail shut the door and dumped her bag to one side, they heard the crunch of tires rolling past the cabin and down the track.

"Traci or Andy?" Holly asked, giving her fiancée a shrewd look.

The cop shrugged once more. "Santa's little helpers?" she suggested, strolling over to the ice bucket and starting to work the cork out of the bottle.

"Well Santa better be paying overtime as they won't get back to the city till nearly 2 A.M.," the pathologist pointed out.

Gail finally met her gaze and immediately cracked under the pressure. "We might be babysitting Leo on the next two weekends Traci has off. And I might be covering Andy's moving day shift next month," she explained.

"You hate moving day," Holly pointed out with a grin.

"I know," Gail agreed mournfully.

Holly's grin softened into a look of adoration as she thought about the lengths Gail's friends had gone to in order to help her out with whatever romantic gesture this was. Ever since the two of them had got together, the gang from Fifteen had been completely accepting of them. They had embraced Holly as one of their own and their friendships with Gail had mellowed somewhat too. It was almost like they recognised immediately how important this relationship was to both women and they had done everything in their power to support it. "Your friends love you," she said.

The blonde bristled slightly at that one. "Um no. I bribed them, didn't you hear?" she argued.

"Yeah, and they love you. So do I," Holly pointed out affably, moving over to where Gail stood and kissing her soundly on the lips. "Thank you for doing all this," she murmured as she pulled back slightly before deepening the kiss. They were startled out of their embrace when the champagne cork finally burst out of the bottle with a loud pop and they both laughed.

"Over excited?" Holly queried, arching her eyebrows.

Gail pulled a face and shuddered. "Don't turn this into a bad porn movie, seriously, that's not exactly the vibe I'm going for here," she told her fiancée.

"So, tell me then, now that I've finally succumbed to your wicked plans. What is all this for?" Holly asked, gesturing around them.

The cop grabbed the glasses from the ice bucket and poured them both a glass before answering. "I wanted to spoil you," she explained.

"You've certainly done that tonight," Holly smiled. "It's been amazing. Thank you,"

"Stop thanking me," she groused, as she handed a drink over.

"I can't help it when you're this sweet," the brunette laughed.

Gail almost choked on her champagne. "I'm not sweet," she spluttered. Honestly first Holly was calling her cute, now sweet. This whole thing was going to ruin her reputation.

Her fiancée smirked and turned on the spot, looking all around the candlelit room and knowing the evidence spoke for itself.

"It's all just a ploy so I can have a whole night of hot, wild sex," the blonde explained but Holly just leaned in close and breathed her response directly into her ear.

"We could have done that anyway," she said, running her fingers down Gail's ribcage and across the plain of her stomach. Gail gasped, unable to form a coherent reply whilst Holly's hand was wandering over her body. Luckily for her the doctor stopped her exploration and stepped back as she made her next point. "This way is more fun though, don't you think? Anticipation...it's sexy," she winked and made her way over towards the fire, making sure to put a little more sway in her hips.

The blonde had to make a conscious effort to shut her mouth and stop watching Holly's backside sashay away from her. She shook her head. Her girlfriend's antics were threatening to derail all her plans. She took a deep breath and steeled herself to say what she wanted to say before they could get to the really fun stuff. It was ridiculous but she actually felt incredibly nervous now. She had no time to get nervous that night at the Penny because she hadn't planned on popping the question. But knowing what she had planned for tonight, she felt the butterflies fluttering round her stomach…despite the fact that Holly had already said yes. _It's not like she's going to change her mind,_ Gail told herself. She knew that was true but she desperately wanted Holly to remember tonight, rather than the earlier accidental proposal. She wanted the brunette to understand just how special she was. She inhaled deeply again and made her way over to join Holly before the pathologist could sit down and make herself comfortable on the pile of blankets. Gail took the glass from her girlfriend's hand and set it down on the mantelpiece alongside her own. With her back to Holly, she picked up the ring that Traci had left hidden behind a photo frame and had a momentary panic about where to conceal it. Once she'd sorted that, she turned and took Holly's hands in her own.

"You shouldn't thank me. Because you deserve this; you deserve to be spoiled and treated right and I should buy you flowers and run you baths. But I don't do it often enough, I know, because I'm not sappy. But for you…you make me want to be sappy," she stuttered.

To her credit, Holly didn't make a joke about how she was supposed to be the one that rambled. She just nodded in understanding which gave Gail the encouragement she needed to keep talking.

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. Everyone else always left me because I wasn't good enough but you stayed. You chose me and every day I thank my lucky stars that you did. You make me feel like I'm wanted and that it's okay to feel things like I do and be who I am," her voice grew in confidence the more she spoke. "Because you know, people always said that you'll know love when you find it and I didn't believe that. I didn't believe in soulmates; finding that one person that made you go 'wow'. Then I met you and you are so perfect to me that I knew it was true. You're my wow," she explained, looking into Holly's dark eyes and imploring her to understand. "Why are you smiling?" she asked, noticing the slow half smile that was starting to spread across the pathologists face.

"Because you're making a heartfelt, deep and meaningful speech. After spending all evening treating me. And because you're my wow too," Holly told her.

"And that's why I wanted this to be special for you," Gail replied, "I know you already said yes, but you deserve more than a grotty police bar in front of our idiot friends drinking tequila and eating nasty nachos. This time it's just us; somewhere nice with candles and champagne. I fell in love with you in this cabin, did you know that? I didn't tell you till much later, but I knew from when we were hiding out here. So it seemed fitting…" She slowly dropped to one knee in front of the woman who was already her fiancée. The crackling fire behind her was the only sound in the room as she fiddled with her bra before pulling out the engagement ring and offering it up to Holly.

"I love you with all my heart, Lunchbox. You make me happy. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you, trying to make you happy. Holly Stewart, will you marry me?" she asked. The look of shock on Holly's face almost made her laugh but those inexplicable nerves wouldn't let her. She waited for the brunette to say something but eventually had to prod her. "This is the part where you say yes," she suggested.

"Sorry!" Holly exclaimed. "I'm just surprised,"

The cop gestured around the room with her free hand. "I do all this, take you to dinner wearing this dress and set up some seriously romantic shit yet you're surprised when there's a proposal on the end of it?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Well, we're already engaged! So yeah, kinda!"

Gail stared up at her and shook her head. "I wanted to do it properly. So that you'd know how much I want this and how incredible I think you are,"

Smiling, Holly held out her hand towards the ring that Gail still held aloft. "Yes, I'll marry you, Gail Peck. Nothing on this earth would make me happier!" she replied finally.

The blonde felt her heart jump into her mouth and the grin on her face was so wide it actually physically hurt her cheeks. She slipped the ring onto Holly's finger and when it reached her knuckle and settled there like it had been made for her, she kissed it gently.

"It fits!" Holly exclaimed.

"Yeah, they let me have it back a few days ago," Gail admitted as she admired the glittering band.

"You lied to me," Holly admonished, remembering all the excuses Gail had trotted out this week, including the one at dinner earlier. Nevertheless her smile let her fiancée know she wasn't serious, so the cop just grinned back at her.

"No, I said you'd have it tomorrow. Which is true, right?"

"Sneaky," Holly said again. "Any other surprises up your sleeve that I should know about?"

Gail pretended to think. "Just one," she replied.

"What?"

"This!" the blonde answered and she tipped backwards onto the pile of cushions in front of the fire, pulling hard on Holly's arm causing her to her to topple over also. Holly squealed as she fell into Gail's lap but the sound was soon cut off by soft lips upon her own. She responded enthusiastically, taking advantage of her elevated position by pushing the blonde back into the makeshift bed. Her amazing girlfriend had been in control of this whole evening; it was her turn now. She cupped one side of that familiar, beautiful face with the palm of her hand, fingers pushing into her hair as she tipped Gail's lips to an angle that suited her. The cop wasn't just a passive participant though; Holly could feel her hands roaming across her back and searching for the zipper of her dress. Just as her fiancée finally began to pull the zip down, Holly remembered she was wearing the underwear Gail had brought for her. That thought made her feel incredibly sexy as she shimmied on top of the blonde, letting the dress fall off her upper body. She felt Gail lose the rhythm of their kiss as the blonde opened her eyes to look at the glorious expanse of skin and black lace she had just uncovered and she smirked.

"Like what you see?" she whispered seductively into Gail's ear before kissing her way down from her ear lobe, to her neck and onto her shoulder. The cop could only moan in response. Her sole thought was to get Holly naked. Fast. She tugged the dress down over her hips and her fiancée obliged by rising slightly, kicking the material down her legs and casting it aside. Gail's hands continued to explore Holly's body, running up her sides and over her breasts causing the brunette to arch her back and push herself even closer.

As Holly placed open mouthed kisses at the base of Gail's throat she lowered more of her weight down, balancing on one elbow whilst her other hand stroked Gail's outer thigh, pushing her dress upwards to bunch around her waist. She was momentarily distracted when her fiancée captured her lips once more but when their tongues met the resulting jolt of arousal soon focussed her efforts. She pulled the dress over the cop's stomach and leaned back, urging the blonde to sit upright so she could yank the thin cloth over her head and discard it completely. With a gentle push, the detective was once again on her back. As soon as Holly situated her leg between the blonde's, Gail started to roll her hips against her and that was all the encouragement the brunette needed. She ran her fingers under the waistband of Gail's panties, eliciting a sharp gasp from her fiancée. "Yes, Hol" Gail breathed, her lips fluttering against the shell of her ear, "Touch me."

Afterwards, they lay cuddled together and breathless on the pile of soft furnishings. "Go get the champagne," Holly said when she could speak again.

"You go get it," Gail sassed back, feeling too deliciously drained to move.

"You get it and I'll let you be on top for round two," the brunette suggested and giggled when Gail shot out of their makeshift bed to grab the bottle from the ice bucket. As she settled back down, she drew a thick blanket over their naked bodies and wriggled her way back into Holly's arms, where she lay propped up against the mountain of cushions. She drank a mouthful of the wine directly from the bottle before offering it to Holly.

"No glasses?" asked the pathologist as Gail wrinkled her nose when the bubbles hit the back of her throat.

"Too far away," the blonde explained with a shrug, so Holly followed her lead and swigged from the bottle too.

They stared into the glowing fire, content just to drink the champagne and draw lazy circles on each other's bodies where they were entwined together. Gail eventually broke the silence with a question; "So, that was better than the first time, right?" she asked.

Holly snorted and nearly choked on the mouthful of champagne she had just taken. "What, the sex?" she coughed, her eyes widening as she thought about that. As a matter of fact, it had been better than their first time together but that was to be expected after three years of learning every inch of each other's bodies. Surely Gail knew that? She wasn't sure what the right answer was here; would Gail be upset if she put a slight on their first time? Not that it hadn't been good - really good in fact – but it had been a little nervous and a little awkward in places. The second time was an improvement…and the third time about an hour later better still. Before she could continue her mental run down of every sexual encounter they had had (which admittedly would have taken a long time), Gail interrupted her thoughts.

"No, you moron!" she said, horrified. "The proposal! I was aiming for something more special. Classier," she clarified.

Holly laughed and lifted one eyebrow. She waved the bottle she currently held in her right hand, sloshing the champagne around inside and causing it to fizz up slightly again. "We're drinking from the bottle after having rampant sex on the floor. And you hid the engagement ring in your cleavage. I can only dream the wedding will be this classy," she joked.

Gail rolled her eyes. "It wasn't there all night! I kind of panicked earlier when I remembered that my dress has no pockets! I should have worn a tux…"

"No, I like the dress. A lot!" Holly rushed to reassure her. "And I like the cleavage too!"

"You're insatiable," the cop tutted, before persisting with her line of questioning. "Anyway, so there were a couple of flaws in the plan. It was still better, eh?"

The brunette handed the bottle over and tugged Gail closer into her body, sliding her arm off Gail's shoulders and down to her waist when the blonde turned onto her side. "Ah, I don't know. The first one was very us, don't you think? Unplanned, unconventional. Low key!"

"Wait, you preferred the first one?" squeaked the detective. "Shit, I could have saved a bucket load of IOUs. The babysitting, moving day, attendance at the next Peck dinner. Oh Christ, Chris is picking up my shift tomorrow and god knows when he will make me return the favour…"

Holly decided the best way of shutting her fiancée up was to resort to a familiar tactic for the two of them and kiss her senseless. Sure enough, that did the trick and the blonde stopped her whining. Holly ran her hand up from Gail's waist to caress her abdomen and the underside of her breasts and she smiled when she felt the cop buck her hips in response to the touch.

"I loved them both, Gail. They were both a surprise in different ways but they were equally perfect. I'll definitely never forget how you made me feel tonight. It's been the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me," she said. "Besides, they do say that third time's a charm, right?"

"I don't know who else has been proposing to you, Lunchbox, but I've only done it twice. So far," Gail deadpanned.

The brunette burrowed a hand under the blankets to find Gail's left hand and as she entwined their fingers, she tapped the ring she found on the fourth finger. "Technically, I asked you between the two. So this is our third," she explained.

Gail lifted an eyebrow and opened her mouth to argue but was stopped by the feel of Holly's mouth on her own as the pathologist kissed her deeply again. She returned the attention with interest, sliding her tongue across Holly's and shifting her body slightly on top of her. As she did so she felt a cold splash over her chest and realised she had sloshed the forgotten champagne over them both. She heard Holly gasp in surprise before the brunette giggled.

"Let me get that for you," she offered. She flipped them over so she could settle on top of Gail and smiled down at the wide eyed blonde before dipping her head to run her tongue over the bare skin of Gail's chest, chasing the path the liquid had taken.

Struggling to be coherent as the feel of Holly's mouth made her body shudder, Gail insisted on trying to get the last word. "Whatever. But for the record, you're only getting one wedding, okay?"

The brunette laughed against Gail's skin, making the cop squirm. "I'm marrying you, Gail. I only need one wedding. And I can't wait to be your wife," she told her before focusing her energy on making sure her fiancée couldn't catch her breath for long enough to answer her back again…

 **The End :)**

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 **Merry Christmas all. I hope you and yours have a wonderful festive period, and 2017 is all kinds of awesome for you!**


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